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Tuesday, June 09, 2009

The boat story

Several months before Nick and I met, he bought a sailboat across the bay. A 25-year old sailboat. With a a 25-year old engine, old sail, old radio, old navigation system.

Old old old. Needed lots of work.

Over the winter, he had a lot of work done on the boat, and he did a lot of work himself. But he was tired of constantly driving over to the Eastern Shore, and he was itching to get his boat in the water. And so finally, in the spring, all the body work had been done, and the boatyard needed the space, and he'd gotten a slip on this side of the bay. So he needed to bring it across.

Now, it didn't have a sail, because the old one was too damaged, and the new one wasn't ready. So he asked my dad if he'd motor the boat - with the old old, one-cylinder engine - across the bay with him.

The deadline was coming up on moving the boat, and the weekend they had to do it was a really cold, crummy one. It was grey and rainy and horrible. But they had to move it.

So my mom and I drove them to the Eastern Shore, dropped them off at the boat, and then we went outlet shopping. For hours. We took our time getting back to this side.

And still, when we got to the marina, there was no sign of them. We tried calling. Nothing. We waited. And waited. And waited.

And finally, they arrived.

Nick's hair was standing up. He looked completely frazzled. My dad was beaming. You can see Nick's forced smile in the photo, and the huge difference in their demeanors.

You see, it started out OK.

And then they got halfway across the bay. To the point where the water is deep enough for the really big boats. I think it's called the shipping channel.

So in the rain and fog, they got to the point where they were in the path of the big boats. And then the engine started smoking. Like, really smoking, in a kind of alarming way.

Now, my husband hates it when I say he was "freaking out" - so I'll just say he "became concerned." At this point, Nick became concerned.

From my experience growing up around (old) sailboats, I can say this: never EVER trust an old sailboat's engine. I'd rather have an old sail than an old engine any day. Because even with rips, a sail will move the boat. Engines, not so much.

Classic!! As someone who has spent a few years in Sailboats ( Auckland is the City of Sails) and who holds a Boatmasters Ticket and a Skippers Licence I can concur with the GPS comment and also a whisper in Nicks ear about an Auxiliary Motor. I also certainly hope Nick had Life Jackets and Flares onboard at the time too. Being a CoastGuard Volunteer I have fished too many "accidents" out of the water not to know the value of these things and never go out in my own boat without these things. :-)